He reached up, panting, flicked the sweat off his forehead and straightened up gingerly, his legs still hurting, to look around. For all the effort, they hadn’t got very far. They were crouching in the shadows of an embankment beside the main road, right next to Elite Street. It wasn’t called that, of course, the official name was Street AA3, Residential Section, but it was where the Department Heads stayed, which was all the reason anybody had ever needed. In the distance to his right he could see the Control Centre—a single vertical rectangle of glass and metal, almost innocuous next to the towering structures around it. And yet this nondescript building was the engine of the City, housing the main motherboard and the power sources that ran everything. On his left, over another embankment, were a row of grandiose residences, sloping roofs, sprawling porches leading up to wide double doors, some of which were actually real wood. Large bay windows caught the nightlights, bouncing them back at him, forcing him to shield his eyes. Behind those doors were the fortunate few, no doubt at this very moment doing whatever it was that the fortunate few did. It occurred to him that perhaps they should get out of here quickly, just in case that list of activities included looking out of the large bay windows.

But where could they go? He couldn’t think of a single place. A flash of light, far above his head, caught his eye. He looked up and saw the numbers—massive, glowing red, emblazoned across the inner surface of the Dome, easily visible from anywhere in the City. They were meant to be.

59:56

Just under an hour to curfew. Which meant that they might just come across the odd person hurrying back home, although it was unlikely. People usually tended to stay in once they were back from the Department. He looked down at the girl.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ he said desperately. ‘I don’t know where to go, there’s nowhere we can go and there’s nothing we can do, except keep hiding till they find us, and that’s—’

‘Slow down, Mac,’ said Theo, patting him on the arm. ‘They ain’t found us yet, so stop goin’ belly up. Relax.’

He stared at her. ‘Did you hear what I said? There’s nowhere to—’

‘Sure I heard yer, Mac. You’ve been sayin’ the same thing forever. So if you don’ know where ter go an’ what ter do, then mebbe yer should listen to me instead.’

‘Listen to you? You don’t know the first thing about the City, but you’ve got a plan to save us?’

‘Well, it ain’t a plan exactly. I mean, it’s a plan but not exactly.’

‘You just said the same thing twice.’